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At least 919 records · Page 51

NAECON 87; Proceedings of the IEEE National Aerospace and Electronics Conference, Dayton, OH, May 18-22, 1987. Volumes 1, 2, 3, & 4

The present conference discusses topics in VLSI components and their packaging, signal processing, uses of cartographic data, data transmission, advanced avionics architectures, fiber-optics, information control and display, image processing, airborne radar and fire control, navigation, air data, Kalman filtering, power generation and control, spacecraft power structures, aircraft flying qualities, flight management, fault-tolerant computer architectures, actuation technologies, self-repairing flight control system technology, multivariable control, stability and control methods, and AFTI/F-16 flight test reports. Also discussed are the ADA/JOVIAL language and its applications, software acquisition and testing, advanced software concepts, software management, computer graphics and visual systems softwear, ADA in embedded avionics, 16- and 32-bit architectures, voice interaction applications, human/machine systems analysis, human factors and AI, mental workloads and displays, pilot acceleration protection research, communications system technology, space communications, reliability and maintainability, managerial techniques, engineering management, EM compatibility and nuclear hardening, expert systems, AI language/knowledge representation, expert system implementation, machine vision/optical processing, and advanced AI concepts and architectures.

Avionics↗

Atlas of wide-field-of-view outgoing longwave radiation derived from Nimbus 7 Earth radiation budget data set, November 1985 to October 1987

An atlas of monthly outgoing longwave radiation global contour maps and associated spherical harmonic coefficients is presented. The atlas contains 23 months of data from November 1985 to October 1987 . The data were derived from the second Earth Radiation Budget (ERB) package, which was flown on the Nimbus 7 Sun-synchronous satellite in 1987. This data set is a companion set and extension to similar atlases that documented 10 years of outgoing longwave radiation results from Nimbus 6 and Nimbus 7 satellites. This atlas and the companion atlases give a data set covering a 12-year time period and will be very useful in studying different aspects of our changing climate. The data set also provides a 3-year overlap with the current Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE).

Bess, T. Dale↗

Computer network environment planning and analysis

The GSFC Computer Network Environment provides a broadband RF cable between campus buildings and ethernet spines in buildings for the interlinking of Local Area Networks (LANs). This system provides terminal and computer linkage among host and user systems thereby providing E-mail services, file exchange capability, and certain distributed computing opportunities. The Environment is designed to be transparent and supports multiple protocols. Networking at Goddard has a short history and has been under coordinated control of a Network Steering Committee for slightly more than two years; network growth has been rapid with more than 1500 nodes currently addressed and greater expansion expected. A new RF cable system with a different topology is being installed during summer 1989; consideration of a fiber optics system for the future will begin soon. Summmer study was directed toward Network Steering Committee operation and planning plus consideration of Center Network Environment analysis and modeling. Biweekly Steering Committee meetings were attended to learn the background of the network and the concerns of those managing it. Suggestions for historical data gathering have been made to support future planning and modeling. Data Systems Dynamic Simulator, a simulation package developed at NASA and maintained at GSFC was studied as a possible modeling tool for the network environment. A modeling concept based on a hierarchical model was hypothesized for further development. Such a model would allow input of newly updated parameters and would provide an estimation of the behavior of the network.

Dalphin, John F.↗

Analyzing Satellite Images Of The Ocean

PC-SEAPAK is user-interactive software package specifically developed for analysis of data from satellites in oceanographic research. Program used to process and interpret data obtained from Nimbus-7/Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) and NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). PC-SEAPAK copyrighted product with all copyright vested in National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Mcclain, Charles R.↗

Information logistics: A production-line approach to information services

Logistics can be defined as the process of strategically managing the acquisition, movement, and storage of materials, parts, and finished inventory (and the related information flow) through the organization and its marketing channels in a cost effective manner. It is concerned with delivering the right product to the right customer in the right place at the right time. The logistics function is composed of inventory management, facilities management, communications unitization, transportation, materials management, and production scheduling. The relationship between logistics and information systems is clear. Systems such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Point of Sale (POS) systems, and Just in Time (JIT) inventory management systems are important elements in the management of product development and delivery. With improved access to market demand figures, logisticians can decrease inventory sizes and better service customer demand. However, without accurate, timely information, little, if any, of this would be feasible in today's global markets. Information systems specialists can learn from logisticians. In a manner similar to logistics management, information logistics is concerned with the delivery of the right data, to the ring customer, at the right time. As such, information systems are integral components of the information logistics system charged with providing customers with accurate, timely, cost-effective, and useful information. Information logistics is a management style and is composed of elements similar to those associated with the traditional logistics activity: inventory management (data resource management), facilities management (distributed, centralized and decentralized information systems), communications (participative design and joint application development methodologies), unitization (input/output system design, i.e., packaging or formatting of the information), transportations (voice, data, image, and video communication systems), materials management (data acquisition, e.g., EDI, POS, external data bases, data entry) and production scheduling (job, staff, and project scheduling).

Adams, Dennis↗

Estimation of propulsion-induced effects on transonic flows over a hypersonic configuration

Boundary conditions are formulated for treating selected patches of a subject configuration as inlet or nozzle areas. For subsonic inflow, the mass flow through the inlet is controlled by the exhaust conditions and the effects of mass and heat addition. For supersonic inflow, the exhaust conditions are based on the inlet conditions and on combustion data. These formulations were included into an existing Euler/Navier-Stokes solver. Comparisons with experimental data demonstrate that the resulting software package efficiently permits the assessment of propulsion-induced effects on external flow fields, particularly around highly blended configurations.

Hartwich, Peter M.↗

State-of-the-art VLBI imaging - 3C345

Most VLBI images have low dynamic range because they are limited by instrumental effects such as calibration errors and poor u, v-coverage. We outline the method used to make a new image of the bright quasar 3C345 which has very high dynamic range and which is limited by the thermal noise, not instrumental errors. Both the Caltech VLBI package and the NRAO AIPS package were required to manipulate the data.

Wehrle, Ann E.↗

Managing an archive of weather satellite images

The author's experiences of building and maintaining an archive of hourly weather satellite pictures at NOAO are described. This archive has proven very popular with visiting and staff astronomers - especially on windy days and cloudy nights. Given access to a source of such pictures, a suite of simple shell and IRAF CL scripts can provide a great deal of robust functionality with little effort. These pictures and associated data products such as surface analysis (radar) maps and National Weather Service forecasts are updated hourly at anonymous ftp sites on the Internet, although your local Atsmospheric Sciences Department may prove to be a more reliable source. The raw image formats are unfamiliar to most astronomers, but reading them into IRAF is straightforward. Techniques for performing this format conversion at the host computer level are described which may prove useful for other chores. Pointers are given to sources of data and of software, including a package of example tools. These tools include shell and Perl scripts for downloading pictures, maps, and forecasts, as well as IRAF scripts and host level programs for translating the images into IRAF and GIF formats and for slicing & dicing the resulting images. Hints for displaying the images and for making hardcopies are given.

Seaman, R. L.↗

The IUE Science Operations Ground System

The International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) Science Operations System provides full realtime operations capabilities and support to the operations staff and astronomer users. The components of this very diverse and extremely flexible hardware and software system have played a major role in maintaining the scientific efficiency and productivity of the IUE. The software provides the staff and user with all the tools necessary for pre-visit and real-time planning and operations analysis for any day of the year. Examples of such tools include the effects of spacecraft constraints on target availability, maneuver times between targets, availability of guide stars, target identification, coordinate transforms, e-mail transfer of Observatory forms and messages, and quick-look analysis of image data. Most of this extensive software package can also be accessed remotely by individual users for information, scheduling of shifts, pre-visit planning, and actual observing program execution. Astronomers, with a modest investment in hardware and software, may establish remote observing sites. We currently have over 20 such sites in our remote observers' network.

Pitts, Ronald E.↗

Customizing the JPL Multimission Ground Data System: Lessons learned

The Multimission Ground Data System (MGDS) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has brought improvements and new technologies to mission operations. It was designed as a generic data system to meet the needs of multiple missions and avoid re-inventing capabilities for each new mission and thus reduce costs. It is based on adaptable tools that can be customized to support different missions and operations scenarios. The MGDS is based on a distributed client/server architecture, with powerful Unix workstations, incorporating standards and open system architectures. The distributed architecture allows remote operations and user science data exchange, while also providing capabilities for centralized ground system monitor and control. The MGDS has proved its capabilities in supporting multiple large-class missions simultaneously, including the Voyager, Galileo, Magellan, Ulysses, and Mars Observer missions. The Operations Engineering Lab (OEL) at JPL has been leading Customer Adaptation Training (CAT) teams for adapting and customizing MGDS for the various operations and engineering teams. These CAT teams have typically consisted of only a few engineers who are familiar with operations and with the MGDS software and architecture. Our experience has provided a unique opportunity to work directly with the spacecraft and instrument operations teams and understand their requirements and how the MGDS can be adapted and customized to minimize their operations costs. As part of this work, we have developed workstation configurations, automation tools, and integrated user interfaces at minimal cost that have significantly improved productivity. We have also proved that these customized data systems are most successful if they are focused on the people and the tasks they perform and if they are based upon user confidence in the development team resulting from daily interactions. This paper will describe lessons learned in adapting JPL's MGDS to fly the Voyager, Galileo, and Mars Observer missions. We will explain how powerful, existing ground data systems can be adapted and packaged in a cost effective way for operations of small and large planetary missions. We will also describe how the MGDS was adapted to support operations within the Galileo Spacecraft Testbed. The Galileo testbed provided a unique opportunity to adapt MGDS to support command and control operations for a small autonomous operations team of a handful of engineers flying the Galileo Spacecraft flight system model.

Murphy, Susan C.↗

The integrated sounding system: Description and preliminary observations from TOGA COARE

An Integrated Sounding System (ISS) that combines state-of-the-art remote and in situ sensors into a single transportable facility has been developed jointly by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the Aeronomy Laboratory of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA/AL). The instrumentation for each ISS includes a 915-MHz wind profiler, a Radio Acoustic Sounding System (RASS), an Omega-based NAVAID sounding system, and an enhanced surface meteorological station. The general philosophy behind the ISS is that the integration of various measurement systems overcomes each system's respective limitations while taking advantage of its positive attributes. The individual observing systems within the ISS provide high-level data products to a central workstation that manages and integrates these measurements. The ISS software package performs a wide range of functions: real-time data acquisition, database support, and graphical displays; data archival and communications; and operational and posttime analysis. The first deployment of the ISS consists of six sites in the western tropical Pacific--four land-based deployments and two ship-based deployments. The sites serve the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment (COARE) of the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere (TOGA) program and TOGA's enhanced atmospheric monitoring effort. Examples of ISS data taken during this deployment are shown in order to demonstrate the capabilities of this new sounding system and to demonstrate the performance of these in situ and remote sensing instruments in a moist tropical environment. In particular, a strong convective outflow with a pronounced impact of the atmospheric boundary layer and heat fluxes from the ocean surface was examined with a shipboard ISS. If these strong outflows commonly occur, they may prove to be an important component of the surface energy budget of the western tropical Pacific.

Parsons, David↗

Subband/Transform MATLAB Functions For Processing Images

SUBTRANS software is package of routines implementing image-data-processing functions for use with MATLAB*(TM) software. Provides capability to transform image data with block transforms and to produce spatial-frequency subbands of transformed data. Functions cascaded to provide further decomposition into more subbands. Also used in image-data-compression systems. For example, transforms used to prepare data for lossy compression. Written for use in MATLAB mathematical-analysis environment.

Glover, D.↗

PATHFINDER: Probing Atmospheric Flows in an Integrated and Distributed Environment

PATHFINDER is a software effort to create a flexible, modular, collaborative, and distributed environment for studying atmospheric, astrophysical, and other fluid flows in the evolving networked metacomputer environment of the 1990s. It uses existing software, such as HDF (Hierarchical Data Format), DTM (Data Transfer Mechanism), GEMPAK (General Meteorological Package), AVS, SGI Explorer, and Inventor to provide the researcher with the ability to harness the latest in desktop to teraflop computing. Software modules developed during the project are available in the public domain via anonymous FTP from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). The address is ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu, and the directory is /SGI/PATHFINDER.

Wilhelmson, R. B.↗

An improved method for precise automatic co-registration of moderate and high-resolution spacecraft imagery

Improvements to the automated co-registration and change detection software package, AFIDS (Automatic Fusion of Image Data System) has recently completed development for and validation by NGA/GIAT. The improvements involve the integration of the AFIDS ultra-fine gridding technique for horizontal displacement compensation with the recently evolved use of Rational Polynomial Functions/ Coefficients (RPFs/RPCs) for image raster pixel position to Latitude/Longitude indexing. Mapping and orthorectification (correction for elevation effects) of satellite imagery defies exact projective solutions because the data are not obtained from a single point (like a camera), but as a continuous process from the orbital path. Standard image processing techniques can apply approximate solutions, but advances in the state-of-the-art had to be made for precision change-detection and time-series applications where relief offsets become a controlling factor. The earlier AFIDS procedure required the availability of a camera model and knowledge of the satellite platform ephemeredes. The recent design advances connect the spacecraft sensor Rational Polynomial Function, a deductively developed model, with the AFIDS ultrafine grid, an inductively developed representation of the relationship raster pixel position to latitude /longitude. As a result, RPCs can be updated by AFIDS, a situation often necessary due to the accuracy limits of spacecraft navigation systems. An example of precision change detection will be presented from Quickbird.

co-registration↗

The L 98-59 System: Three Transiting, Terrestrial-size Planets Orbiting a Nearby M Dwarf

We report the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) discovery of three terrestrial-size planets transiting L98-59 (TOI-175, TIC 307210830)—a bright M dwarf at a distance of 10.6 pc. Using the Gaia-measured distance and broadband photometry, we find that the host star is an M3 dwarf. Combined with the TESS transits from three sectors, the corresponding stellar parameters yield planet radii ranging from 0.8 R⊕ to 1.6 R⊕. All three planets have short orbital periods, ranging from 2.25 to 7.45 days with the outer pair just wide of a 2:1 period resonance. Diagnostic tests produced by the TESS Data Validation Report and the vetting package DAVE rule out common false-positive sources. These analyses, along with dedicated follow-up and the multiplicity of the system, lend confidence that the observed signals are caused by planets transiting L 98-59 and are not associated with other sources in the field. The L 98-59 system is interesting for a number of reasons: the host star is bright (V =11.7 mag, K = 7.1 mag) and the planets are prime targets for further follow-up observations including precision radial-velocity mass measurements and future transit spectroscopy with the James Webb Space Telescope; the near-resonant configuration makes the system a laboratory to study planetary system dynamical evolution; and three planets of relatively similar size in the same system present an opportunity to study terrestrial planets where other variables (age, metallicity, etc.) can be held constant. L 98-59 will be observed in four more TESS sectors, which will provide a wealth of information on the three currently known planets and have the potential to reveal additional planets in the system.

planets↗

The L 98-59 System Three Transiting, Terrestrial-size Planets Orbiting a Nearby M Dwarf

We report the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) discovery of three terrestrial-size planets transiting L 98-59 (TOI-175, TIC 307210830)—a bright M dwarf at a distance of 10.6 pc. Using the Gaia-measured distance and broadband photometry, we find that the host star is an M3 dwarf. Combined with the TESS transits from three sectors, the corresponding stellar parameters yield planet radii ranging from 0.8 R⊕ to 1.6 R⊕. All three planets have short orbital periods, ranging from 2.25 to 7.45 days with the outer pair just wide of a 2:1 period resonance. Diagnostic tests produced by the TESS Data Validation Report and the vetting package DAVE rule out common false-positive sources. These analyses, along with dedicated follow-up and the multiplicity of the system, lend confidence that the observed signals are caused by planets transiting L 98-59 and are not associated with other sources in the field. The L 98-59 system is interesting for a number of reasons: the host star is bright (V = 11.7 mag, K = 7.1 mag) and the planets are prime targets for further follow-up observations including precision radial-velocity mass measurements and future transit spectroscopy with the James Webb Space Telescope; the near-resonant configuration makes the system a laboratory to study planetary system dynamical evolution; and three planets of relatively similar size in the same system present an opportunity to study terrestrial planets where other variables (age, metallicity, etc.) can be held constant. L 98-59 will be observed in four more TESS sectors, which will provide a wealth of information on the three currently known planets and have the potential to reveal additional planets in the system.

Veselin B Kostov↗

Verification and Validation of Hybridspectral Radiometry Obtained from an Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) in the Open and Coastal Oceans

The hardware and software capabilities of the compact-profiling hybrid instrumentation for radiometry and ecology (C-PHIRE) instruments on an unmanned surface vessel (USV) are evaluated. Both the radiometers and USV are commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) products, with the latter being only minimally modified to deploy the C-PHIRE instruments. The hybridspectral C-PHIRE instruments consist of an array of 18 multispectral microradiometers with 10 nm wavebands spanning 320–875 nm plus a hyperspectral compact grating spectrometer (CGS) with 2048 pixels spanning 190–1000 nm. The C-PHIRE data were acquired and processed using two architecturally linked software packages, thereby allowing lessons learned in one to be applied to the other. Using standard data products and unbiased statistics, the C-PHIRE data were validated with those from the well-established compact-optical profiling system (C-OPS) and verified with the marine optical buoy (MOBY). Agreement between algorithm variables used to estimate colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) absorption and chlorophyll a concentration were also validated. Developing and operating novel technologies, such as the C-PHIRE series of instruments, deployed on a USV increase the frequency and coverage of optical observations, which are required to fully support the present and next-generation validation exercises in radiometric remote sensing of aquatic ecosystems.

Hybridspectral↗

Variable Depth Bragg Peak Method for Single Event Effects Testing

Traditionally, accelerator SEE testing is accomplished by removing the tops of packages so that the IC chips are accessible to heavy ions. However, ICs in some advanced packages cannot be de-lidded so a different approach is used that involves grinding and/or chemically etching away part of the package and the chip from the back side. The parts are then tested from the back side with ions having sufficient range to reach the sensitive volume. More recently, the entire silicon substrate in an SOI/SRAM was removed, making it possible to use low-energy ions with shorter ranges. Where removal of part of the package is not possible, facilities at Michigan State, NASA Space Radiation Laboratory, GANIL (France) and GSI (Germany) offer high-energy heavy ions with long ranges so that the ions can reach the devices' sensitive volumes without much change in the LET. Unfortunately, a run will typically involve only one ion species having a single energy and LET due to the long time it takes to tune a new energy. The Variable Depth Bragg Peak (VDBP) method is similar to the above method in that it involves the use of high-energy heavy ions that are able to pass through the packaging material and reach the device, obviating the need to remove the package. However, the method provides a broad range of LETs from a single ion by inserting degraders in the beam that modify the ion energy and, therefore, the LET. The crux of the method involves establishing a fiduciary point for degrader thickness, i.e., where the Bragg peak is located precisely at the sensitive volume in the device, for which the measured SEU cross-section and the ion LET are both also maxima and can be calculated using a Monte-Carlo program, TRIM. Once the fiduciary point has been established, calibrated high density polyethylene (HDPE) degraders are inserted into or removed from the beam to vary the ion LET at the device in a known manner. After each change of degrader thickness, the SEU cross-section is measured and the corresponding LET calculated from the change in degrader thickness. That information is used to generate a plot of cross-section as a function of ion LET. The advantages of this approach are that the part does not have to be de-lidded and a broad range of LETs is available from a single heavy ion without having to go to non-normal angles of incidence to change the "effective" LET. As we will show, it is possible to obtain an entire curve of cross-section versus LET using just two or three ions. Fig. 1 shows curves of cross-section vs LET for a Freescale 4 Mbit SOI/SRAM measured at the 88" Cyclotron at Berkeley and at NSRL. The open symbols are the data obtained from Berkeley for top-side and back-side irradiation. The solid data points are for the data obtained at NSRL using a device for which the package was intact. The data are for Iron and Gold and cover a range of LETs from 4 MeV.cm2/mg to 84 MeV.cm2/mg. The agreement between the data obtained from Berkeley and from NSRL is excellent, demonstrating that the VDBP method is capable of providing accurate values of cross-section versus LET, at least for the 4 Mbit SRAM. Details of the technique will be included in the final presentation.

Buchner, S.↗